by Amy Hopkins
Noticing his bewilderment, Julianne pointed at something half-obscured by a limp body—the crushed shell of one of the smaller Skrima they had seen in this region. Garrett scanned the ground and quickly found more evidence of the small beasts.
Julianne turned the remnant’s body over with her boot to look at the back of its head and nudged the base of the remnant's skull with her toe.
"Oh." Garrett squatted next to the corpse and leaned closer to examine the bloody hole. He thrust a finger at some marks—three scratches surrounding the wound, pointing toward the center. "Is that how the little bastards latch on?"
"I imagine so," Julianne said. "But what's that?"
Julianne pointed one end of her staff at the hole in the remnant's neck. Just as Garrett was about to explain to her it was a hole in a head, he realized what she was pointing at.
Under the matted hair, swollen flesh, and streaks of congealed blood, something was almost hidden. Though a red lump on the side of someone's head would not normally be anything to remark upon, this one looked different.
Garrett grabbed a dagger from his boot and dug into the lump. He slipped the knife in a little deeper, twisted it just the right way, and flicked it out. A long white wormlike thread stretched from the tip of the knife back to the remnant’s head.
As he pulled the blade away the appendage stretched and then snapped off with a wet pop, flying off the knife and landing in the dirt several feet away. It twitched and thrashed for a moment before spasming into a tight knot and falling still.
This time Julianne didn’t comment on Garrett's squeal—possibly because she had let one out herself.
"That. Is. Disgusting!" Julianne said, injecting more feeling into the phrase than she ever had in her life.
Garrett nodded, eyes wide. "That's putting it nicely. What is it?"
"It's part of the Skri—” Julianne began.
"No, no. I know that. But is that how they control the remnant?" Garrett prodded the wormlike length with the tip of his knife, but it had hardened and didn't react. "What would happen if ye stuck one o’ those in me brain?"
Julianne shuddered with the implications of his question. "Nothing good, I would imagine. Let's hope we never have to find out."
Garrett stood and shook his head. "Well, no matter what happened here, we've got a whole bunch of people back there ta deal with. We can't let ‘em see this. They’ll shit their pants and run for the hills, magic spell be damned. Do ye think ye can fuck wi’ their minds enough that they don't see it?"
Julianne considered it. "I can't guarantee it. If anything goes wrong, the illusion might slip. And getting them past without at least one falling onto one of these bodies would be almost impossible."
"Is there a way around?" Garrett asked.
Julianne frowned, her mind going back over the map she had left on her horse. "I think so. We'll take the other trail. I think it joins up with this one farther down. I'd rather lose a day of travel than subject our new friends to a sight like this."
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Julianne sat by her tent, watching the low hum of activity on the other side of the campfire. Beside her, Danil flipped a bronze coin over the backs of his fingers.
"How can we keep all of these people safe," Julianne whispered, "when it feels like the whole world wants us all dead?"
Danil shrugged. "We can't. Not all of them, at any rate, and not forever. Even the ones we protect from aliens and remnant will eventually die of old age, or illness, or childbirth. Or maybe tumble off a cliff that drunk rearick—”
"You're not helping," Julianne said dryly.
"Sorry, but I stand by my point. You can't keep everyone safe. It's not your job." Julianne began to protest, but Danil waved her down. "Hear me out. You're the leader of the temple, and that's a job that you do very well. I know you feel like it's your job to protect the whole world from harm, it's not. Oh, it's your job to try—but that's also my job, and Marcus’s, and Garrett's, and everyone else's. It's the responsibility of all humanity to do our best to keep each other safe. And even though it’s our job to try, that doesn't mean we’ll succeed. And even if we don't succeed, it doesn't mean we failed."
Julianne rubbed her head, watching the ever-moving coin glitter in the firelight. "I'm sure you had a point in there somewhere, Danil, but if you did I missed it."
Danil sighed. "If you saw a woman standing on the side of the road with no home and no money and no help and she had a horrible disease, you would feel compelled to help her, right?"
"Yes," Julianne said dubiously, wondering where his train of thought was leading.
"You’d give her some money, find her a doctor, and make sure she found a place to stay." Danil flipped the coin at Julianne and she caught it. "But that doesn't make it your job to heal every illness that ever existed, does it? Or to spend the rest of your life going from city to city to make sure every single person has a home?"
Julianne's brows knitted together as she contemplated his words, but after a minute she slowly nodded. "It's my job to defeat the monsters in front of me and to try my best to save the people that I can...and as long as I'm doing my best to save them, I'm fulfilling my duty. Is that what you're saying?"
Danil grinned happily. "And may I say that you're doing a damn fine job of it?"
Still dissatisfied with her inability to rid the world of remnant, Julianne slumped. Danil leaned closer and slipped an arm around her shoulders. "Cheer up, Jules. I know it's hard, but you need to remember… There are so many people alive today because of you; so many people safe and happy back in Tahn and Muir. Not to mention the people you helped back in Arcadia."
Polly sauntered over and sat down on Julianne's other side. "What's got you down?" she asked gently.
"She's pissed that bad stuff happens and sad that she can't stop it all," Danil explained.
"Then let's change that. Tomorrow we’ll march out and punch the bad stuff in the face. Really fuck it up, maybe knock a few teeth out. Yeah?" Polly slipped her arm through Julianne’s and beamed a smile at the mystic. "I mean, look at all the bad guys we’ve kicked in the teeth just in the last couple of months. I'm sure we can handle a few more!"
That brought a smile to Julianne's lips. "You're damn right."
By morning Julianne's spirits had lifted. The sun dawned bright and clear, and despite the flies that had come with summer’s warmth, she rolled out of bed feeling a sliver of hope.
Danil's words had helped, and so had Polly's. Maybe she couldn’t save everyone—but she would damn well try, and she wouldn't go down without one hell of a fight. Not only that, she had her friends beside her every step of the way.
The camp was already beginning to mobilize. Everyone was on their feet, shoving blankets into bags, chewing on old bread, or milling about the edges of the group. All were eager to get moving on the last day of their journey toward Anrock and safety.
Julianne pulled the map out, wincing at the smudges and creases that covered it. "Now that we're back on the main road, we should be able to reach Anrock in half a day."
“Anrock?" a voice behind her asked. Julianne turned to see Tilda, a woman from Kells, behind her. “You're not taking us there, are you?"
"Yes," Julianne said carefully. "Is there a reason we shouldn't?"
Tilda snorted. "You can take us there, but they won't let us in. Everyone knows Anrock is closed to outsiders."
Julianne narrowed her eyes. Her opinion of the town's leader was already low, thanks to rumors she had heard back in Tahn. "You mean they wouldn't even let in refugees?" she asked in an edgy voice.
"Not a chance." Tilda laughed. “That bastard Coates wouldn't even let his own mother in if she was stupid enough to set foot outside the town walls.”
“What?” Julianne asked in shock. “Why?”
“Bastard takes it as a personal affront if anyone leaves, no matter that they've got no food or supplies and no room left behind those tall stone walls." Tilda shrugged. "Well, they might hav
e a little more room now. Last I heard, a bunch of people left to start a settlement of their own. Haven't heard back from them, though."
Julianne wondered if the group she referred to was Patrick's or if more people had tried to leave. Shaking off the stray thought, Julianne set her shoulders. "We’re going to Anrock and we will be welcomed there if it's the last thing I do."
The exhausted group made it to Anrock unscathed under the dusky tones of twilight, and Julianne pushed them on until they were directly under its heavily-fortified walls.
Julianne approached the barricaded gates and looked for a brass ring or pull rope to signal their arrival, but found nothing. Frowning, she wondered if this was a deliberate tactic. She rapped loudly on the thick oaken doors.
Nobody answered. Julianne knocked again, though she knew they had been heard; her magic wasn’t fooled. The two men on the other side of the gate were doing their best to pretend they hadn't noticed her brisk knock.
Julianne could tell their reluctance was born of fear rather than an aversion to helping innocent people who might be caught outside unprotected. The men quivered, logic saying remnant didn’t knock but paranoia insisting it was a subterfuge to let the monsters in to ravage the town.
“Hello? My name is Julianne. Please open the door.”
Biting her lip, Julianne considered whether a mental nudge would be required. Despite her earlier refusal to use magic, she understood that in this case she might be well justified in tweaking some emotions to keep the terrified people of Kells out of harm’s way.
Danil remarked quietly from beside her, "You know, they've cleared a significant area around the town. If we camp here overnight we should be safe. As long as we've got someone on guard, we’ll see anything coming with plenty of time to react."
“Danil, what the hell kind of remnant would introduce themselves by name and use manners to request entry?" she asked, still distracted by the mental gymnastics of the men who barred their entry to Anrock.
They were picturing a horde at the gates, one with the intelligence to use such tricks to gain entry to the fortified stronghold.
“Everything sounds scarier in the dark,” Danil reminded her. “We know we can force our way in if we need to, but why push it?”
Julianne eyed the sky, which was speckled with stars from one horizon to the other. There wasn't a single cloud in sight, and Danil was right—the city walls were in the middle of the clearing. It would be enough to give them a degree of safety. Julianne's eyes glowed again and she quickly touched on the minds of the men inside to confirm that they would be on guard until morning. They also lacked any mental barriers that might prevent her from forcing them to open the gates in an emergency.
Julianne turned to the sea of crestfallen faces that had followed her from their tiny, unprotected town.
"It seems Anrock is closed for the night," Julianne said calmly. "We will be safe outside until dawn.”
"What if they don't let us in in the morning?" Jackson asked. "Will we have to turn around and go back?"
"The leader of this city has a responsibility to provide refuge if at all possible." Julianne placed her hands on her hips, her expression growing dark. "Bitch help him if he decides to shirk that responsibility."
Her emotional words seemed to instill hope in those around her. Anxiety faded as one by one her audience turned away to begin the task of setting up camp for the night.
"So," Marcus began as he sauntered over. "How are those ethics of yours going?"
Julianne scowled. "Are you questioning my judgment?"
Marcus shook his head. "I think you're doing the right thing. I always do. And I know you're prepared to follow through with that threat. I just hope you're prepared to deal with the fallout."
"What fallout?" Julianne asked, a seed of doubt sprouting.
Marcus’s gaze softened. "Most of the time, the thing you have to do is the thing you want to do. When the thing you have to do is something you’re trying to avoid... Well, I know how much that eats you up."
Julianne sighed and dropped her shoulders. "You're right. I'd really like to get out of this without having to warp anybody's mind or having to force people to do the right thing, but in this case I don't think that's going to happen."
"What did ye see when yer eyes were glowin’?" Garrett asked. "Are they plannin’ ta feed us ta the wolves?"
"No, that's just it." Julianne glanced around to make sure no one else was close enough to overhear. "The men at the gates wanted to open it. Or at least, a part of them did, but their minds were so clouded with fear they couldn’t see reason.”
“Whaddaya mean?” Garret asked.
“They heard me knocking,” Julianne explained, “but they were terrified. Of remnant, of Skrima; even of their leader. Even though the logical part of their minds was screaming that it was fine, that we were just people, they couldn’t get past that fear.”
“So they left us to die,” Marcus spat, resting his hands on his hips as his mouth twisted with disgust. “Knowing we’re out here as remnant bait.”
Julianne shook her head. “Their minds are so torn up it’s created cognitive dissonance. They’re scared of what we might be, and equally scared of what might happen to us if they let us in. They actually managed to convince themselves that the sound of my fist bashing on their gate was just the wind."
"That’s some pretty serious self-delusion," Danil commented. "Do you think this Coates guy has been scaring them with false stories? Has he made threats about people coming inside?"
Julianne shrugged. "The guards weren’t really thinking of specifics, and I didn't want to push. Not just yet, anyway. If morning comes and they still won't let us in, we will find out more."
"I'll take first watch," Garrett said. "Polly can take the second, and Marcus the third. That way ye and yer glowy-eyed bastard of a friend can get a good night’s sleep. I think yer goin’ ta need it." Garrett gave a nod to indicate his decision was final and stomped off to tell Polly the good news.
"Glowy-eyed bastard?" Danil said, a grin pulling at the corners of his lips. "That's the nicest thing he’s said to me all week!"
"I do believe you're right," Julianne said. "But if you're willing to forego some of that beauty sleep that was just offered, how about we go do some reconnaissance?"
A grin lit Danil's face. "I'm always down for some subterfuge. Just point me in the right direction."
Julianne sent Marcus a flurry of thoughts, explaining that she and Danil were going to go for a short walk. She didn't want the others to notice her absence. Pulling Danil away from the crowded camp, Julianne led the way around Anrock’s walls, one hand trailing on the smooth stone that separated the city from the rest of the world.
They walked together in silence, breathing quietly, then slowed, eyes flaring like bright stars in the deepening night. Julianne felt Danil’s magic beside hers as they each sent a tendril of magic into the town to reach nearby minds and scan them for information.
Coates is dead? Danil sent to Julianne, startled.
She nodded, having confirmed the information from a second person. This wife of his, the one that has taken his place as the town leader… Julianne's thoughts trailed off as she touched the next mind and resumed once she had released it after finding nothing new. There's something odd about this situation, Danil. I think we did the right thing by waiting until morning. I don't want to go in there blind.
I don't exactly get a choice there, Jules, Danil sent, tone light if a little snarky.
Julianne rolled her eyes. You know what I mean. I want to be as prepared as possible before meeting this woman.
I can sense their fear, Danil commented. But that’s not unusual, given what’s gone on in this neck of the woods lately. What’s bothering you?
That's exactly it, Julianne said sent. Danil, I just read half a dozen minds and they’re all just scared. There’s no anger, no grief…just gut-twisting anxiety, vague fears of the remnant, yes, and the Skrima—but also
of the dark. They’re afraid—they’re all afraid—of being alone and of…
Bees? Danil’s eyes met Julianne’s, confusion etched on his features even in the moonlight. Why would everyone be afraid of bees? I don’t see an event that caused this...
Narrowing his eyes, Danil reached out to another person. The mind he brushed was that of a young woman, and he felt the rush of flavor as soup touched her tongue.
Tammy sat at the table with her husband, gently sipping the soup she had just prepared. The bland taste barely registered in the woman’s mind as her heart raced with unsettling discomfort.
Tammy briefly wondered if she were about to have a heart attack, then considered that might be for the best. It wasn’t like she was happy, and she guessed that dying that way would be infinitely better than being torn to shreds by one of those monsters outside. Her heart thumped even harder at that thought.
Yes, perhaps it would be easier this way, she thought idly as she took another mouthful of soup, swallowing hard to force it past the lump in her throat.
Danil carefully withdrew, slipping into the head of Tammy’s husband.
Gordon absently noted that his wife was wearing the same dress she had worn yesterday, and her face was still marked by a smudge from when she had cleaned the fireplace earlier that morning.
It’s shaped like a bird, Gordon thought, the idea quickly consuming his mind. Perhaps it’s a sign…a sign of the end. We’re doomed. The remnant, the monsters, the bees… We’re cursed, just like Catherine told us.
Danil teased that tiny thread of information, delicately pulling it out to examine it.
Catherine, the young, frightened girl who stood next to Coates on his wedding day, looked more like a terrified child than a beautiful bride. Strangely, her anxiety was mirrored by a pit of worry in Gordon’s gut. Later the same girl, pale and drawn at her husband’s funeral, shivered into her thick furs as Gordon watched with the other townspeople, whispering about curses and warnings of doom.
Gordon shifted uncomfortably in his chair and put down his spoon, appetite suddenly gone.